Mangekyou Densetsu
by Southern Temple of Greatness
Summary: Whether it was luck or not. Naruto received a powerful set of tools. He made the best out of his situation as he walked down the path of a shinobi. This is his tale.


Mangekyou Densetsu: rewrite

**Flash back:**

The Third hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, walked into the only primary school in Konoha. He was looking for someone. "Miss, can you tell me where Uzumaki Naruto is?" The old man asked. The secretary of the school bowed in respect and said, "Hokage-sama, I believe he is in the library." The old man noticed the look on her face when Naruto was mentioned. There was a bit of malice. "Thank you." He said and walked off.

Everyone he walked by bowed in respect and Hiruzen simply gave a smile to everyone until he reached the door to the library. The hokage walked in quietly and saw a small blond boy sitting at a messy table. The blond boy looked up and said, "gramps, what are you doing here?" The hokage sat down across from the blond small and spoke, "to visit you of course. How was your day at school?" The blond boy frowned, "the same I guess. Everyone ignored me and kept away from me."

"I see." He said, with a hint of sadness in him. He moved onto another subject. " are you reading?" Naruto smiled and shown him the cover of the book. It was about ninjas. "Gramps, look at what I can do." Naruto said enthusiastically. He balanced a pencil on his fingertip. "The book said beginners should practice something called the leaf concentration method. It was easy to hold a leaf on your forehead. So i thought I can balance pencils like with the same method. It took a couple of tries but I did it." Hiruzen was generally surprised, a child merely eight years old can do something this complicated, and he was self taught. The hokage smiled and thought to himself, "He is just like his father." "Come along Naruto-kun, I'll treat you to some ramen." Naruto loved ramen, not only because it was the best food in the entire world, but the chef and his daughter were really nice to him. The old man held the blond boy's hand and walked towards Ramen Ichiraku.

"Naruto-kun, can you come by my office tomorrow. There's someone I'd like you to meet." THe hokage said. Naruto happily ate and nodded. This side of Naruto reminded Hiruzen of Naruto's mother. After eating, the old man walked Naruto home and told him to come by after school tomorrow.

"Naruto-kun, I'd like you to meet Itachi-kun." The hokage introduced the person next to the blond boy. "Itachi-kun, this is Naruto-kun." The hokage gave Itachi a note explaining why he wants him to know about Uzumaki Naruto. The hokage felt that Naruto was very talented in the ninja arts so he wants Itachi to tutor him. He felt that Itachi wouldn't the type of person to be malicious or felt inconvenient towards the blond boy. Finally, the hokage said that he shouldn't force the child to be a ninja, it should be to his own accord. Thus not telling him that Itachi is his tutor. "Itachi-san, what does the note say?" Naruto asked.

"Don't worry about it. Come Naruto-kun, let's go play a game." Itachi answered. Being a child, Naruto loved games. "What kind of game?" The blond boy asked curiously. Itachi held out some shuriken and spoke, "Naruto-kun. these are called shuriken. I want you to throw these at the tree over there." Naruto seen this before at a festival game stall. THe object was to throw these at the move object and if you knock down the objects three times you win a prize. Naruto never got to play since the stall was packed and he got knocked back to the end of the line. Itachi demonstrated how to throw the shuriken and handed the rest of Naruto.

Attempts made by Naruto either it missed or it didn't reach the tree at all. It was harder than what Naruto thought it'd be. However he was optimistic that he would land at least one in the next couple of tries. Itachi watched as Naruto continued to throw shurikens at the tree. Naruto was getting closer to the target. Itachi was a little surprised that Naruto could pick it up so easily. There were many variables when it came to throwing shuriken, daggers and kunai. Like the distance between ninja and the target. The rotation of the object. The direction and speed of the wind. Finally a shuriken landed on the tree trunk. It took about thirty tries to hit the target, and the attempts afterwards had the same results. "Naruto-kun's talent is definitely worth noting." Itachi thought.

"Naruto-kun, let's try it with sometime else." Itachi said as he shown him the kunai. Itachi again demonstrated how to throw one. THe blond boy paid close attention on how to hold it, how to throw and how the projectile should move. Itachi handed one to Naruto. The blond boy played with the weight to judge how much force needed to be exerted. Naruto noticed the arc of the kunai. He judged how it should be accounted for. He gave it a quick throw. The kunai didn't fly far enough. Naruto got another kunai and threw it. Itachi noticed how Naruto experimented before a real attempt. He believed that was something all ninjas should be capable of. "Itachi-san, I did it!" Naruto said happily. With kunai, it took less tries to get correctly. Itachi gave him a small smile. "Hokage-sama told me about the trick you did in the library yesterday. Why don't you try balancing kunai?" Naruto didn't quite understand what he meant so Itachi showed him. He picked the two kunai and balanced the tip and then finally had it on his fingertip. The blond boy understood and tried it himself. It was certainly difficult to do. Naruto was also extra careful since the kunai were sharp.

Itachi gave the blond boy some advice, "Instead of trying to achieve it in one go. balance only one first before adding the second one." Naruto gave a nod. It was harder to do with kunai since it was heavier than pencils. Finally achieved at balancing one. Naruto, at a snail's pace added the second one top of the first kunai. The tip kept slipping, but Naruto didn't let his frustration show. Naruto sat on the ground and focused only on tip. Remembering back to the leaf concentration method. Getting distracted was the biggest problem when doing these balancing tricks. He stopped what he was doing and started to think about the trick. There was something behind he wasn't getting.

"They won't stick because I thought they can act as one, but that's not working." In a train of thought, something came to him, "maybe, I shouldn't pretend that the two can act as one. If I treat them as separate. I need to pretend the first kunai as my finger so it can hold on to the second one. It's worth a try." The blond boy closed his eyes and tried what he had thought out. He applied himself on the first kunai. "It's working." He thought. Naruto slowly placed the second kunai on top of the first one. The second kunai was held in place. He couldn't hold it for long. Itachi's eyes widened. A child solved the secret behind the trick. Extremely surprised. He was ordered to tell the hokage about this. "Naruto-kun, let's stop for today. We can play games next time." Naruto nodded in excitement. He wondered if this is what it's like to have friends. The cheerfulness of the blond was something unseen before.

"I see, I certainly did not expect this." Hiruzen said while stroking his beard. "Hokage-sama. Who is he?" Itachi asked. Hiruzen couldn't tell him who Uzumaki Naruto actually is, "He is an orphan whose parents died when the Kyuubi attack." Itachi knew that the old man was holding something back. Other than the fact that Naruto was the Kyuubi's seal. Itachi respectfully bowed and left the office. Hiruzen turned around and looked out towards the mountains. "Your son is really something, Minato." Hiruzen thought.

Hiruzen walked with Naruto after school. Naruto looked at the older kids that were part of the ninja curriculum. The kids were practicing their taijutsu katas. Naruto looked on as the kids did their punches and kicks. The old man saw that the blond boy was drawn into the way of the ninja. "Naruto-kun, are you interested in what those children are doing?" Hiruzen said. The blond boy snapped back to reality, "kind of I guess. They will be ninjas soon. By that time they would be consider as adults, wouldn't they?" The old man nodded. Being an adult at the age of twelve was interesting to someone like Naruto. What was so different from what he was now and in the future. The two walked to the old man's office and waited for Itachi.

"Itachi-san, what is it like to have friends and family?" Naruto asked. Itachi found his question to be strange in a way that he can't answer it. He tried his best anyways. "Family are people who you lived together and help each other. Friends are people who share a common interest. It's very hard to describe." The blond boy didn't quite understand what Itachi meant but he nodded anyways. "It must be better than being alone." Naruto said. Itachi didn't say anything.

Naruto figured out that the hokage had Itachi teach him to be a ninja, and Itachi pretended as if they were playing a game. "I'm not that dumb." Naruto thought. "Why does gramps want him to be a ninja? What's so great about ninjas anyways? They're just soldiers under gramp's command." He laid on his bed getting ready to sleep. "There was something else. Gramps is really busy now. He's worried about something." He felt that he didn't want to bother the old man with problem of not wanting to be a ninja as he really wanted to live a normal life as an outcast. Someone that didn't want him for whatever reason. However, for reasons unknown to him. The village people didn't like him for only one reason. He wanted to find out why.

He accepted the fact that Itachi was indeed teaching how to be a ninja. The blond boy was also told that he was talented in the ninja arts. Which was mainly why the hokage asked him to do this. Naruto didn't exactly hate it. He genuinely had fun. He didn't exactly think being a ninja was his calling. His plan was to become an adult and move out of Konoha. The villagers would be happy that he wasn't around and Naruto would be happy that he didn't have to put with the village anymore.

Naruto walked to an unknown part of Konoha. It had a creepy silence to the place. Naruto began to walk a brisk pace until he saw a man in front of him. Scared, Naruto tried to turn and run with all his might, but a Hand gripped his shoulder and spun him around. Naruto looked at his face. "Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?" The man was someone the blond boy knew, Itachi. It didn't ease the blond boy's mind as the man was covered in blood. "Naruto-kun I did something terrible. However before I leave, I'll tell you something." Itachi said. Naruto didn't say anything. "Naruto-kun, have you ever wonder why the villagers avoid you?" The blond boy shook his head. "They do that because they see you as the great demon, Kyuubi." Itachi continued. "The story you been told was a lie. The Fourth Hokage didn't defeat the demon, because he couldn't. The Kyuubi was mass of chaotic chakra, so because of that. He did the only possible thing to save the village. He sealed away the demon. So he sealed it inside you. Now you wonder why he would do that. Nobody knows. All there's to it, is you're destined to carry him inside you."

Naruto's past unfolded. All those resentful eyes from the adults. Everytime he tried to get near other kids, the parents would pull them away. All the memories of him being lonely. All because he was destined to be a cage to hold in an evil demon. Itachi began to speak, "There's more to it. There's a certain someone in ninja council that wanted to turn you into a human weapon, but the hokage denied that person because he thought it was inhumane. So I was ordered from that person to capture you." The blond boy struggled from Itachi's grip. Instead Naruto slowly faded into unconsciousness.

The blond boy slowly regain consciousness. He tried to open his eyes but something was covering them. His hands touched his to feel something was wrapped around his head. He tore it off and saw it was bandage wrapping. He quickly looked around his surrounding. It was his room. Naruto tried to remember the previous night with his meeting with Itachi. He doesn't remember other all than he was told why the villagers hate him. The blond boy got out of bed and found a note on his table. The note was by Itachi. Naruto swiftly opened it and read its content. Itachi wanted to meet to find a book near the place he was at last night. He ran out the door to the location expecting an explanation.

As he got to the place, he noticed the number of ninjas nearby and the hokage himself as well. The old man turned to see the blond boy, "Naruto-kun what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school.?" The blond boy quickly made an excuse, "I'm on my way to school right now, but then I saw all the ninjas nearby so I came here instead." "We'll talk about it after school. Go now." The old man said. Naruto ran to school as he knew the old man didn't like the fact that he was missing school.

After school, the blond boy sat in the hokage office, there was something important the hokage had to tell him. "Naruto-kun, Itachi-kun committed a crime and now he's on the run." "What did he do?" Naruto asked. "He killed everyone in his clan. I'm sure you know about the Uchiha clan. He's the eldest son of the clan head." Naruto was shocked, he remembered that Itachi was covered in blood last night. "Why did he do it?" Naruto asked. "I don't know." The old man answered. Naruto knew he was holding something back. "There's more. I want you to consider being a ninja." The hokage said.

"Why?" Naruto asked. "You have a talent in the ninja arts. I'm sure Itachi had told you. Also I don't want his work to be wasted." The old man said. "What about the fact that I had been trained by a killer. The villagers already don't like me that much. I don't want to be hated even more." Naruto said. "They won't know that you were at one point involved with him. Only you, itachi and I know that. Personally I think it's better for you." The old man spoke. "You really think so?" Naruto asked. The old man only nodded. "Then I'll become a ninja." Naruto said. Naruto considered Itachi his first friend. Someone who didn't hate and told him the truth as to why no one else liked him.

As soon as he left, Naruto ran to the place he originally wanted to go. He remembered where the note asked to go. He stood in front of said place. An old building that belonged to the Uchiha clan. It was creepier now that he knew many people once lived in the area. Naruto slowly walked in. The ninjas did a good job removing the blood and corpses. Naruto noticed a book with a bookmark in front of him. Naruto opened the book and flipped to the page where the bookmark was. A history of the Uchiha clan. Naruto began to read the book. It's content was mainly about the founding of the Uchiha clan and what made the clan special, the Sharingan. This book talked about a more in depth detail of the kekkei genkai.

"Why does Itachi-san want me to read about the Sharingan?" He thought. It all came to him. He remembered about his talk about someone wanting to make him into a human weapon. He remembered Itachi knocked him out cold. He remembered waking in his bed with bandages wrapped around his eyes. "He did something to my eyes." He thought. "What did he do to my eyes!?" Naruto cried. Naruto furiously flipped through the book. A note fell out. He tore it open. It was from Itachi. Naruto read it with fear in his mind. Itachi implanted someone else's eyes into him. "Why!?" Naruto screamed, "Why did you do it!?" This was something he didn't want. To Naruto, this felt wrong. He took the book and snuck out of the building. He looked at the mirror as soon as he got home. He bright blue eyes of he sees in the mirror weren't actually his. His eyes slowly faded into a red colour. Those were his eyes now. He noticed something different about them. These weren't the usual Sharingan he read about. He took the book out and continued to read. Mangekyou Sharingan. He read. It was an advanced form of the Sharingan. The Mangekyou Sharingan allowed the user to use advanced forms of ninja techniques exclusive to it. It was the only information the book had. Naruto out the book down and went to sleep.

**Present Time:**

Naruto snapped back to reality as he waited for Kakashi-sensei to show up for their team meeting. Said person finally arrived, "sorry, I'm late. I had to help an old lady with her groceries." "That's an obvious lie." Sakura yelled. "Anyways," Kakashi continued. "The chuunin exams are coming. I have forms for you guys if you want to participate in them." He handed the forms to each of his students. "It's perfectly understandable if you don't want to be in it. As every year some students do in fact die in the chuunin exams." Kakashi said. Sakura was visibly sacred. As with Naruto and Sasuke, they both hid their emotions and thought process. "The meeting is over, you may go home." Kakashi said and immediately left. Sakura started to talk with Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, will you be participating." She asked. Sasuke only made a gesture to confirm before he disappeared. Sakura turned to Naruto and noticed that he was walking away, "I'll be participating as well." "Fine, I'll be joining as well." Sakura yelled to him.

Naruto sneaked to the Uchiha clan's former home. He had this place to himself to learn about the Mangekyou Sharingan. Among them, he learned about the Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. Amaterasu, considered to be one of the most powerful fire technique to the known world. Naruto figured out that it came from his left eye. Using said technique caused great strain and therefore pain to Naruto. He couldn't use for more than ten seconds. Tsukuyomi, where Naruto read was an extremely powerful genjutsu. It traps the target in an illusion that was completely under his control. He can essentially control the flow of time and torture the target. Thus resulted in immense psychological trauma. Naruto found this technique only better than Amaterasu by a single strand of hair. He figure despite the short duration for both technique, it would be more than enough for the average enemy. Naruto seemed to enjoy genjutsu for practical usage as it require the least amount of chakra. Regular ninjutsu was fine as well. Despite being flashy and usage a moderate amount of chakra. Something he realized over the couple years since he had the Mangekyou Sharingan implanted, Itachi still taught him how to be a ninja even though Itachi wasn't in Konoha. It was as if he planned everything ahead of time.

If Naruto wanted to become a chuunin, he needed to train his hardest. He continued his training arrangement. It covered everything a ninja needed to survive. It was tough but Naruto didn't it. Since he had his eyes set on becoming a chuunin.

"Kakashi-san, they're still children. They're not ready to climb the next step." Iruka said. "I understand what you're feeling, Iruka-san, but they're not your students anymore. They're full fledged ninjas now. What they want to do is up to them. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke thinks they're ready so I give them my consent." Kakashi said. "Asuma, Kurenai, do you give consent to let your students participate in the upcoming exams?" The old man asked. The other two jounin sensei agreed. Knock knock. "Come in." The old man said. It was Naruto, "I'm here to hand in my application." Iruka looked at the blond boy and said, "are you absolutely sure about this?" Naruto gave him a cheerful answer, "nothing ventured, nothing gained. I of course understand the dangers of this exam but I do think I'm ready for it." Iruka sighed in defeat, "Naruto do your best."

Meeting the other genin from his year, Naruto was invited to join them to lunch in the barbeque restaurant. Naruto didn't know much about the other teams as he liked to keep to himself. There was this other girl named Hinata that always acted shy. Naruto being very observant knew why she acted like that. He sat in the corner while his teammate Sasuke, was bothered by Sakura and this other girl named Ino. Sasuke was annoyed by both of them. He saw that this guy named Kiba was jealous that Sasuke had many girls fawn for him. Shikamaru, another former classmate of Naruto's finds that Sasuke's situation was bothersome, he was the lazy type of person. However, he was advanced in the intellectual side. Choji just liked to eat. Naruto recalled that his clan relied on body mass dependant ninjutsu. Finally Shino. Shino like Naruto and Sasuke kept to himself. He acted like a normal person. Other than the fact that they used bugs. Naruto had no opinion of Shino.

After leaving the restaurant, Naruto walked down town and sees the stares and whispers of the villagers. After receiving his new set of eyes from Itachi, he sees everything with clarity of perception. He noticed the slightest movements. He could read lips from the whispers. They called him a demon's child, a dangerous person and overall threat to the village. After years, Naruto simply ignored everyone. When in school the teachers shown them the basic kata for taijutsu. Naruto easily memorised the movements. The basic ninjutsu they taught had the same results. Even sometimes when he's lazy, he would cheat on tests by looking at the pencil's flow. He would never cheat too much as the teachers would get suspicious. He headed to the third training ground to begin his training.

Naruto followed the instructions for the chuunin exams. Along the way, he met Konohamaru, the old man's grandson. He was being harassed by people he didn't know. Konohamaru seen Naruto walk in their direction, "Naruto nii-san!" He cried and hid behind him. "What's the matter?" He asked. "I'll tell you what's the matter. He's the one that bumped into me." The stranger claimed. "Konohamaru, did you apologize?" Naruto asked. Konohamaru quickly nodded. "He apologized. Why do you have to make it a big deal." Naruto said. The stranger was visibly angry, he looked like the type that easily gets violent. He was ready to get into a fight until someone else showed up, "Kankuro, as your sibling, you're embarrassing me, trying to pick a fight with a child. We need to go now." The female stranger said. "You're lucky this time, kid." Kankuro said. "Konohamaru, try not to get into trouble." Naruto said leaving him.

Naruto easily passed the first unofficial part of the chuunin exams. Arriving at the room where it was held. The proctors placed an illusion that changed the floor numbers. Naruto scoffed at their attempt. He saw that his other two teammates are already there. Sasuke in fact was ready to get in a fight with another Konoha ninja. What stood out most about this ninja were his bowl style haircut. his extremely thick bushy eyebrows. Finally his green one piece jumpsuit. "My name is Rock Lee and I'll become a great ninja with taijutsu alone." He proclaimed. Naruto was taken back by his statement. None the less Naruto stood in the back watching them fight.

Sasuke was losing to Rock Lee but was interrupted by another ninja. He looked exactly like an older version of Lee. The other ninja was Rock Lee's jounin sensei. The jounin sensei reprimanded him, "Lee, you're not allowed to get into fights before the exams. I must punish you for this." He punched Rock Lee and sent him flying. "Sensei, I apologize." Lee said as he got up. "What a bunch of nutty people." Naruto thought.

He however memorised Lee's taijutsu as he thought it would be useful for later. A man opened the doors to the first official part of the exams. This man was much larger when he stood next to the other proctors of the exam. The strict look on his face had an intimidating effect on the genin in the room. "My name is Morino Ibiki. I am the proctor for the this part of the exam." He signal a couple of ninjas to hand out pieces of paper to the participants. You will have one hour to finish this exams. I will explain how we will grade you. Each team will have ten points total. A point will be deducted will each wrong answer. You will automatically fail when all points are lost." The other genin were somewhat terrified, while others thought it would still be a cinch. Many just kept to themselves. The genins took their seats while Ibiki prepared the timer. "The exams starts now." He said.

Naruto quickly read through exams. It had a total of ten questions. "This means each person can't get four of them wrong." Naruto thought. He looked at each question closer. The questions were pretty difficult for the genins to answer. Naruto didn't panic. With his peripheral vision, Naruto looked at the other proctors. "They're here to catch cheaters." Naruto thought. Their would be no reason to have this many proctors then.

Naruto looked ahead to see the other students. Some students were visibly cheating. They got caught was asked to leave the room. Others were panicking. A few were actually confident in their answers. One of them was his teammate, Sakura. Naruto looked at how Sakura moved her pencil, he knew what she wrote down. He looked up at the timer and sees that there was only thirty minutes left. "Plenty of time." He thought.

He observed the other genins to see how they cheat. It would be a good indicator for their skills. "Something worth noting." He thought. Naruto slowly used more of his Sharingan and noticed one particular person. This person carried a giant gourd on his back. It didn't carry water. He sees the tiny grains of sand. He sees the chakra that carried the grains of sand to his lap. He saw someone he met earlier today. "That person is here. His name is Kankuro. That girl is here as well." Naruto thought. He focused on them as well. The lines of chakra attached was attached between the body and the object on his back. "Particularly interesting." Naruto thought. He wanted to know what was that object. The girl carried something large on her back as well. He looked at Ibiki who was staring at him. Naruto just stared back, thinking he Ibiki was doing to intimidate him. Ibiki looked away and stopped the timer and spoke.

"There is a second part of the exam that I will be talking about now. If you choose to participate, you must know that if you fail, you will not be able to participate in future chuunin exams. Those who refuse stand up now." His statement put fear into the genins' hearts. "Pretty sure he's doing to scare everyone." Naruto thought. A bunch of participants actually stood up. Ibiki had a strong effect on them. Not too surprised as he was a scary looking man who said something that would didn't sit well with the genins. "This is the final call!" Ibiki yelled. "Everyone that's sitting will be participating!" He saw that no one moved, so he smiled, "congratulations. All of you passed. those who stayed shows courage. That's something commendable. -"

The next proctor arrived immediately after. She was very different than the first proctor. Quite opposite in fact. Her name was Mitarashi Anko. She was brash, easygoing, and quite hyperactive. Naruto quite liked the change in pace. Not to mention, Naruto thought she was quite cute. "Anko, you came too early. Also must you enter through the window?" Ibiki facepalmed. Naruto laughed out loud. "Oh you think my mistake is funny huh." Anko was slightly ticked off, she flung a kunai at Naruto. The blond didn't panic and simply grabbed the knife with his hands. Anko raised an eyebrow. "That was something. not something a genin can do easily." She thought. Anko opened the doors to the next exam and said, "hurry up, starting the exam early is beneficial for you participants."

This time the exams were taken outdoors. "Welcome to the forty fourth training ground. Many ninjas call it the Forest of Death. This is an extremely dangerous place. A nature preserve filled with dangerous flora and fauna." Anko introduced. "What you have to do is simple. There is a tower in the middle of the preserve. All you need to do is arrived there as soon as you can with two tokens. She showed the two different tokens. I need both tokens from each team before I can pass you. This means I will only be accepting half of you guys. We will start in five minutes so hurry up and go to the starting line." The genins dispersed swiftly.

Naruto walked up to his team, "so whats the plan?" Sasuke spoke, "we'll just avoid all confrontations and head directly for the tower. It should be the fastest option." Sakura and Naruto agreed. As soon as the gates open, the team bursted through the gates and headed out.

Sasuke landed on the tree branch of a giant tree, "We need a better plan. Chances are there are ninjas hunting down each other." "What should we do?" Sakura asked. "We need to reposition ourselves and take a different path. Moving too quickly leaves an obvious trail and enemies can pick up on it." Sasuke said. "We should imitate different bird calls as signals." Naruto said. "If an enemy is nearby, we use a crow's call. If it's safe, we use a pigeon's. If we choose to fight, we use an owl's. And if we choose to run, we use a cardinal's." "Why should we choose to fight?" Sakura asked. She wasn't the type to purposely get into confrontations. "To increase our chances in passing. Fighting a weaker team is a good strategy. We might even be able to squeeze some information from them." Naruto said. Sasuke agreed with him and said, "let's move, we need to travel a good amount before we can camp out."

The team believed they at least halfway to the tower. the took a break on top of the tree canopy. being this high gave them a tactical advantage, being able to see a farther distance and being able to ambush other teams. Naruto disappeared saying he had to use them bathroom. While that was true, he also knew that someone was following them. Said person was incredibly skilled. Naruto haven't been able to catch wind of that person until recently. He held out at the forest floor and waited for potential enemy to get felt a sudden surge of killing intent from behind.

Naruto panicked and leapt away. He looked at what was the cause. The largest snake he had ever seen. It had large golden eyes and had olive green that aided in blending into its snake opened its mouth menacingly and struck down at the blond. He jumped away again and used the tree walking technique. The serpentine wrapped its body on the tree that Naruto was in. He constricted the trunk and completely crushed it. Naruto jumped off the tree and landed on the snake's body. The serpentine tried to knock off the blond as he was climbing towards its head. The serpentine slivered swiftly into bushes and along trees at another attempt trying to remove Naruto. Finally the snake got what it wanted and Naruto fell off. The snake had the blond trapped against a tree. "Shit, I have to use it now." Naruto said and so he fully reveal his true eyes. With a generic genjutsu, the snake fell unconscious. Naruto changed his eyes back into its cerulean eyes. he headed toward where his team were camped. He believed that the snake was summoned by another team.

The blond found Sakura knocked unconscious and Sasuke missing. Naruto searched around for clues. He saw a bunch of broken branches and decided to follow it. Naruto saw his teammate being attacked by another ninja. This ninja was definitely not a participant. A tall man with long flowing black hair. His skin was white and pasty-like. His eyes were similar to the snake that attacked him not long ago. Sasuke just stood still, like a deer caught in headlights, while the foe charged in. Naruto jumped in and fended off his attack. He looked at the man and understood why Sasuke stood there.

The killing intent from the snake was a speck compared to this man. "Who are you? You clearly aren't a participant." Naruto demanded. "tsk, I'll tell you if you can beat me." The man scoffed. He stuck his hand out at Naruto, Sen'ei jashu. Snakes lunged out of his sleeves and darted towards Naruto. Naruto quickly pulled out a kunai to deflect the serpentine and grabbed Sasuke to get away. Naruto threw Sasuke to a tree trunk. The blond couldn't fend off the man and hold onto Sasuke at the same time. Sasuke snapped out of his daze and watched his teammate protect him. He jumped high up in the air, threw out multiple shuriken and followed up with hand seals, Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu. The flying projectile covered in fire flew towards the man. He simply dodged the flaming shuriken and smirked at them, "You two are skilled than I thought." The man weaved his own hand seals, Fuuton: Daitoppa. With a great huff of breath, he blew a gale of wind and knocked both Naruto and Sasuke off the tree.

The two landed somewhat safely on the ground. The man jumped down to where the genins were at. The man used an advance form of his previous technique, Sen'ei Tajashu. Naruto panicked and rolled away and used his own ninjutsu, Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu. A technique he copied off when he fought a ninja named, Momochi Zabuza. The man dodged the water dragon as it crashed down at him. Naruto climbed up another tree while he had the time. Sasuke followed up with another fire ninjutsu, Katon Gokakyu no Jutsu. The flying orb of fire flew towards the man. The fireball barely grazed the man. "You two fought well, I will tell you my name. I am Orochimaru of the Great Sannin." The said. Naruto and Sasuke panicked, someone of such stature for some reason was after their lives.

"I here for one reason. Uchiha Sasuke, do you not want to kill your brother, Uchiha Itachi. I can give you power to do so" Orochimaru declared. Naruto was suspicious of what Orochimaru said. The Orochimaru that stood in front was a kage Bunshin. The real one appeared behind and he hastily bit down on Sasuke neck. Naruto tried to save Sasuke but someone snuck behind and knocked him unconscious. Sasuke saw his teammate went out cold but he wasn't faring too well. He slowly drifted from consciousness.

Naruto stirred as he woke up. He slowly peeled his eyes open and sees Sasuke. Sasuke acted different. He released a dangerous amount of killing intent. He listened to what he said. "I'll be breaking your arms. To cause me such pain, be grateful that this is the only thing you'll lose." Naruto got up from where he laid to stop his teammate. Stopping him physically would be too late, he had to use a genjutsu. "Sasuke, stop it!" Naruto yelled to get his attention. Their eyes met and Naruto immediately used a genjutsu. Genjutsu: Kanashibari no Jutsu. The paralysis effect was instant. Sasuke couldn't move an inch. Naruto removed the genin that Sasuke held onto. Naruto noticed one of his arms was already broken. "Sakura, carry Sasuke away." Naruto ordered.

She quickly dragged him away. The supposed enemies' team walked towards Naruto and the genin with the broken arm. "It is our loss." The team captain handed Naruto the token needed to pass. When the enemy team left, the other Konoha genin arrived seeing the situation. Sasuke finally returned normal. Naruto assumed it had something to do when Orochimaru bit him. Sakura saw the mark on his neck and questioned Sasuke. "Stay out of my business." Sasuke said. "We have both tokens. Let's head for the tower."

They arrived at the tower and met with a familiar face. Iruka sensei stood there welcoming the teams that passed the exams. Iruka stood in front of a plaque. A poem written by Sarutobi Hiruzen himself. "This poem is very important." Iruka explained. "It shows how a ninja must be. The sky represents the mind and the earth represents the body. A ninja must train both parts to become great. having one without the other is a sign of failure." The team entered their personal break room to rewound before the next part of the exam. Sakura began to cry. "I'm so weak. I tried to protect you two but I couldn't. If Sasuke didn't wake up in time, I might have died. Naruto woken up just in time you stop you. I'm blindly praising and criticising this team but I'm the one dragging this team behind. I couldn't do anything." Naruto didn't say anything. Whether he believed Sakura was right or not was another matter.

Naruto was just thankful that he survived having a fight with a Sannin and actually passing this part. Naruto looked over to Sasuke to see if he wanted to say anything to Sakura. Sasuke stood up and walked out of the room, "It's time for the next part." Kakashi appeared in front of him. "Sakura, Naruto, you two stay in this room. I have to chat with Sasuke." The jounin sensei lead him away. "I heard about the mark from Sakura. I can't allow you to participate anymore." Kakashi said. "What are you saying, I made it this far." Sasuke protested. "If you use chakra. the mark might activate again. I can't allow that to happen. If you want to participate, then you're not allowed to use chakra." Sasuke agreed. Kakashi went back to Naruto and Sakura along with Sasuke, "I'm here to take you to the next exam." Sakura and Naruto followed Kakashi.

Naruto observed the remaining teams. The participants shrunk significantly. Hello, my name is Gekko Hayate. I am the proctor for this part of the exam. Since more ninjas had more through the examinations than what we expect, this will be a preliminary to the official exam. The Third Hokage will be here to witness as well. This part is simple actually. It will be a spar between ninjas. This screen will randomly select to ninjas. The spar will proceed until one is surrender or unable to continue. I will stop the spar when necessary." Naruto didn't quite have enough energy so he decided to sleep.

Sakura shook Naruto until he woke up. "Naruto, wake up, it's your turn!" Sakura yelled Naruto yawn and jumped off the platform. He looked over the his opponent, it was Inuzuka Kiba. "This should be easy." Naruto thought. Kiba tried to deliver the first strike but the blond counter with a swift upper kick. Naruto used what he memorised from Rock Lee, Kage Buyo. Naruto followed Kiba and copied his every move as if he was a shadow. In mid air, Naruto switched position with Kiba so he was on top and Kiba was on the bottom. The blond delivered a flurries of blows to Kiba. With a final kick, Naruto sent Kiba back onto the ground. Kiba got up from the beating, he had his dog partner, Akamaru get behind Naruto.

Akamaru changed into Kiba by using Juujin Bunshin. The partners got onto all fours, Shikyaku no Jutsu. Naruto watched as they charged at him. The blond simply deflect all his attacks. "How 'bout this!" Kiba yelled. Gatsuga. Him and Akamaru leapt into the air to perform the taijutsu. With ferocious speed and power, they dove at Naruto. Naruto stared at Kiba, he could see where his arms would be so the blond wouldn't get scratched by his grabbed Kiba's arm and flung him back at Akamaru. Kiba's technique stopped. "I can't lose now." Kiba said. He took something out of his pocket. Both Akamaru and Kiba took some form of pill. Akamaru started to turn red, as his name implied.

"I read about this somewhere, I think it's called a soldier pill." Naruto thought. "A pill you can take where it'll give you a boost in energy that allows you to fight for three days straight." Kiba and Akamaru increased in speed and power, but still slow enough for Naruto to dodge. Naruto moved to the side and weaved some hand seals. Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu. A basic water based ninjutsu where Naruto shot out torrent of water from his mouth at Kiba. Kiba took the hit and knocked him out from his collaboration technique. Naruto pinned down Akamaru in the confusion and tied his legs together with steel wire he carried. Tsuga, Kiba dove at the blond with his drill like taijutsu.

Naruto used Kage Buyo again to dodge his opponent. He followed Kiba like a shadow until Naruto had the chance to stare Kiba into his eyes. Naruto activated Nehan Shoja no Jutsu. A genjutsu where target gradually falls asleep. Hayate the proctor announced Naruto victory. Hayate himself, was impressed at the blond who shown such prowess in the ninja arts. Naruto reached the balcony and saw Sasuke looking at him. "So, how's that mark?" Naruto asked nonchalantly. Sasuke told him to mind his own business. Naruto leaned on the railings and watched the two Hyuuga duke it out. Naruto was interested as it's the first time he seen how someone part of the Hyuuga clan fight.

Itachi only taught him about the Sharingan and some ninja skills but not about other clans in Konoha. He had figure that part by himself. He listened to Kakashi's explanation of the Hyuuga clan. They had their own dojutsu, able to see the chakra pathway in the human body. Their dojutsu, the Byakugan, had the ability to see through solid objects. Finally the Byakugan had a near three hundred sixty degree. With these strengths, the Hyuuga clan practiced a special form of taijutsu only they can use, the Jyuuken. Attacks that can damage internal organs and destroy chakra pathways in the body by going after something called the tenketsu. A tenketsu is where chakra can be released from the body. By damaging the tenketsu, a Hyuuga clan member can stop a target from using ninjutsu because of this. Kakashi went even deeper within the roots of the Hyuuga clan, specifically about the main and branch house that the clan used. Naruto doesn't tolerate how the main house treated the branch houses, but Neji was going too far with this. Hayate finally stopped the match as how one Hyuuga clan member, Hinata was clearly outclassed by the other, Neji. Naruto wasn't too happy as how he saw it, it was Neji going overboard in trying to hurt Hinata. Neji could easily win, but he purposely dragged it out.

Kakashi could see the anger in Naruto. "You can't get involved Naruto. You will be disqualified if you do." Kakashi said. "I know, but it doesn't sit well with me. He kind of pisses me off." Naruto answered. "Those who passed the preliminary have been decided. Now the screen will randomly select the ladder for the final exam. The final exam will be one month today in a stadium. Please prepare yourselves." The hokage announced.

Naruto was at the hot springs by himself at a long day of training alone. In one month's time, he'll be fighting Hyuuga Neji in the first round. Relaxing in the hot spring, he was formulating a plan against the Hyuuga. At least until he noticed someone. An old man with long white hair and a red jacket was peaking at the women's side of the hot spring. The man was scribbling something onto a notebook. For once, Naruto decided to be an ally of justice. He performed some hand seals, Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu. The water from the hot spring surged into the sky and crashed down onto the man in the form of a waterfall. "Ahh!" The man scream as he got hit by the waterfall. "Oi brat, what's the big idea?" The man yelled. "Can't you see I'm working."

"Oh really." Naruto said sarcastically. "I don't see how peaking at women bathing is working. I should tell the manager that there's a peeping tom and get you banned." The man laughed, "jokes on you. I'm already banned." Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu. A dragon formed of hot spring water darted towards the man. "What do you think you're doing!?" The man yelled. "Can't you see, I'm washing the filth away from the hot spring." Naruto said. "Hey kid, I like you." The man said which caused the blond to have a disgusted expression. "No, not in a that way!" The man excused. "You've got style and guts." Naruto raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What's your name, kid." He asked. "Uzumaki Naruto." He answered. The man hid his expression. "I guessed right then." He thought. "I am one of the Great Sannin, Jiraiya of the Toads. Also the number one pervert in the entire world." He did a dance as well. Naruto was not amused.

Jiraiya followed Naruto to his usual training ground. "What do you want ero-gama? I have not time to play with you. I have the chuunin exam coming up." Naruto said. "No respect for elders at all." Jiraiya thought. "I can help you with your exam." Jiraiya offered. "No thanks, I don't see what I can learn from you at all." Naruto retorted. Jiraiya was offended, "Oh dare you look down on me! I'll show you a super powerful technique to prove powerful I am." Naruto watched the hand seals that Jiraiya made and remembered them, Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu. Jiraiya spewed out a breath of fire like a dragon would. Naruto tricked him and said, "It's not that powerful, even I know that technique." Naruto mimicked Jiraiya. He also spewed out fire. Naruto noticed how taxing this technique is and how he might need more practice with it.

Jiraiya's jaw dropped as he saw the blond perform the same jutsu. He was sure that someone as young as him would not know a higher ranked jutsu. "Fine I'll show you even more super powerful technique. One that I know you don't know." Jiraiya huffed. The white haired man again weaved some hand seals, Katon: Karyuu Endan. This technique displayed more fiery and ferocious than the last technique. The flame that spewed out of Jiraiya's mouth was manipulated to look like a dragon and it danced around the landscape. After ending the technique, Naruto clapped and Jiraiya was full of pride, "See I told you I am a great ninja." "It doesn't change the fact that you're an ero-gama." Naruto retorted. Jiraiya flinched at his comment. "Anyways if you want me to teach you. Come here tomorrow morning. I heard you're going up against a Hyuuga. Those guys are vicious because of their Jyuuken." The blond lazily waved at him and went home.

Hiruzen, the current hokage was sitting in his office doing paperwork. He already noticed his former student, Jiraiya climbed through the window. "Jiraiya, you need to kick that habit of yours." He said. Jiraiya scoffed, "anyways, I met someone interesting in the village today." Hiruzen looked over. "His name is Uzumaki Naruto." Jiraiya said. "Oh, why is he so interesting?" Hiruzen asked. "Well, other than the fact he resembles his father a lot. I would say, he is just as talented as him." Jiraiya. "From what you told me, you had Uchiha Itachi look after him."

"I did." Hiruzen said. "I think Itachi might influenced more than you think." Jiraiya said back. Hiruzen stared at his former student, "what do you mean?" "Well, my first impressions of him is. The way his eyes move. It resembles that of an Uchiha. The way he learns stuff reminds me of them. It's as if he has the Sharingan." Hiruzen spoke, "I see, I have my suspicions as well. I seen Naruto spar with someone during the exam. The way he use a genjutsu was the same way an Uchiha would. It's that stare Naruto does. Naruto's growth rate is extremely suspicious." "I'll be meeting with him tomorrow. Also Uchiha Itachi is involved with a terrorist organization involving with jinchuuriki." Jiraiya said before he jumped out the window.

Much to Jiraiya's surprise, Naruto actually decided to meet him. "Hello ero-gama." The blond said. "Stop calling me that!" Jiraiya was ticked off. "From what I learned, you know about the Kyuubi." Naruto stared at him. "I do." "Have you ever tried to use it's chakra?" He asked. The blond shook his head. "Well because of the Kyuubi, you technically have two sources of chakra. That's very powerful. I want to see if you can use the second source." Jiraiya explained. "How would use the second source?" Naruto asked. "I'll get to that later, first I want you to sign this." Jiraiya summoned a toad with a scroll, to which the toad unraveled.. "What is this?" Naruto asked. "This is a contract. By signing it you're allowed to summon ninja toads to aid you in battle." Jiraiya said. Naruto didn't see the arm in signing it and so he did. "I will show you how to use the summoning technique." Jiraiya said. "The first part you need is blood." He bit his thumb. Jiraiya smeared this blood a across his palm. He then places his hand on the ground, Kuchiyose no Jutsu. A toad appeared before them. "Now you try." Jiraiya said. "It take quite a bit of chakra to summon so be prepared. You should use a lot of chakra for your first attempt." Naruto nodded and did what he was taught. He focused and gather as much chakra as he can, Kuchiyose no Jutsu. The size of the toad was barely as big as the one Jiraiya summoned. The man was impressed. "Good job on your first try." The blond felt a large portion of his chakra sucked away. "Now for the part where you learn to use your second source of chakra." Jiraiya continued. "I only hypothesise this, but the only way for you to gain access to it would be for you to exhaust your own chakra first." 'How should I do that?" Naruto asked. The white haired man got into a fighting stance, "I think you know."

Naruto could barely keep up with Jiraiya, like the time he fought Orochimaru. They were incredibly strong. Jiraiya never gave the blond a chance in retaliation, and he had summoned the toad named Gama. The two continued to pressure Naruto, which forced him to retaliate with ninjutsu he had already known. Luckily he had done so because of the large body of water beside him. The only way he saw it was that he needed to summon a toad as well to fight them was exhausted from the fighting. Naruto was not sure if he could unless he tried. He remembered Jiraiya's instructions, Kuchiyose no Jutsu. He thought so, he did not have enough chakra.

Naruto looked up and barely dodged a pounce from Gama. Jiraiya did what he can not to fight too seriously but because of that Naruto was getting exhausted and not using his other chakra source. Jiraiya thought that maybe being in a bear death situation might be the best option. Jiraiya flew into the air, Gamayudan. He spat out sticky toad oil at the blond. Naruto could only dodge half the onslaught of oil before being glued onto the ground. Jiraiya landed and performed hand seals, Doton: Yomi Numa. He slammed both his hands onto the ground. It caused the ground surrounding Naruto to turn into a swamp. Naruto panicked and struggled to get out, but he was losing stamina in a rapid pace. He could only free his arms. "I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" Naruto panicked. The only way Naruto could survive this ordeal was to summon a toad large enough to be dragged out of the swamp. He tried in one final attempt, Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Naruto gasped for air as he was out of the swamp. He looked up to see the toad. It was the biggest thing Naruto had ever seen. "You're the little shrimp that summoned. You're either extremely lucky or talented. It doesn't matter to me." The toad showed arrogance. Naruto fainted before he could say anything. The toad scoffed, to him it was a little humiliating to be summoned by a child.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see himself in an unfamiliar place. He quickly got up looked around. "I'm in the hospital." He said. Naruto got out of the bed and looked out the window. The first thing he noticed was a giant toad-like footprint on the ground. He snuck out of the hospital.

"Yo, my name is Gamakichi." The toad said. Naruto was a little disappointed as it was not the Toad he wanted to summon. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, do you know of a giant toad?" He introduced. "There are many giant toads, which one do you want to summon?" Gamakichi said. Naruto wanted to summon the one that dragged him out the swamp. The blond decided to leave that until a later time. "I guess you can go home." Naruto said. Gamakichi hopped onto Naruto's shoulder. "No way, Naruto-nii. This is my first time being summoned. Let's go do something fun." Gamakichi begged. "I can't, I have an exam coming up." Naruto reasoned.

Gamakichi constantly hopped around on Naruto and begged him. Much to his dismay the blond agreed. Naruto took Gamakichi to Ichiraku for some ramen. "Naruto, there's a frog beside you." The waitress, Ayame said. "Ayame-nee, this is Gamakichi, a toad." Naruto introduced. "Oh, it's cute." She said. Gamakichi continued to eat. Naruto shown Gamakichi more of the village, despite his childish nature, the toad picked the looks that Naruto got from the villagers. "They don't like you, Naruto-nii." The toad said. The blond ignored his surroundings and continued to walk. Gamakichi thought that was the reason why Naruto refused his request at first. He felt kind of bad about. "Don't feel bad about it. It's been a long time since they were like this." Naruto reassured the toad.

"So, you summoned a giant toad." Jiraiya said. Naruto looked back at him. "I did, but I passed out soon afterwards." Jiraiya lightly laughed. "At least he was able to use it." He thought. "Anyways. I promised I'd help you train before the upcoming exam." Jiraiya said. "Let's start." The two started to spar like last time.

The day of the third exam had arrived, Naruto thought he would get new clothes on this special occasion. He now wore a white and orange zipper hoodie and black pants. He sat waiting in the contestant's hall. However, up in the stadium bleachers, the genin that didn't pass the preliminary sat and waited in excitement. The exam took place during a festival, there was much to celebrate.

Naruto heard his name being called, he headed to the centre stage. Despite being called that, it was more of a battlefield. Naruto stood into front his foe, Hyuuga Neji. Naruto kept his emotions in check, he had no reason going so hard on his cousin, Hinata. The two didn't even noticed that the proctor changed. Shiranui Genma signaled them to start and the crowd cheered. Naruto did something Neji didn't expect. The blond charged in and challenged the Hyuuga into a taijutsu match. Neji originally thought that Naruto was foolish, but the blond easily challenged him in melee combat and even put him on pressure. Naruto didn't give Neji a chance to fight back. Naruto landed a kick to Neji's torso which pushed him back. The crowd was more than impressed. They thought that the Hyuuga would have an advantage, clearly they were wrong.

Hinata worried for Naruto. This time, Neji who already activated his dojutsu, who went on the offensive. The blond ducked and weaved between each strike. It was clear to him that the Hyuuga wanted to end the match fast. Naruto didn't want that, he wanted to payback what Neji did to Hinata. He didn't quite understand why he felt that way. Why he wanted to play the role as an ally of justice. Naruto countered and landed a punch to Neji's face. "That felt good." Naruto thought, he really wanted to punch his arrogant face.

Naruto used an unfamiliar hand seal, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Three other shadow clones appeared beside Naruto. This was something the blond worked on when he sparred with Jiraiya. Naruto and the clones attacked with perfect coordination, not giving Neji a chance to breathe. Hakke Sanjuuni Shou, Neji struck the three clones in total of thirty two times. The Hyuuga stared up and looked at the blond. Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu. Naruto blasted a torrent of water at Neji and landed where Neji once stood. "Let's see you escape this." The blond weaved through the needed hand seals, Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu. Naruto breathed fire like a dragon at the Hyuuga. Instead of seeing a severely burnt body. Neji got out by the skin of his teeth. "I didn't think I have to use this so early into the exam." Neji suffered minimal damage. "He has some kind of trump card. I just need to figure out what it is." The blond thought. Naruto went on the defensive, he needed either to draw out and learn what Neji did or end this fight right now. Neji wondered how his for constantly dodged his attacks, it was as if he could see them. He considered himself to be pretty agile. Also to force out his trump card, he was not too pleased.

Naruto decided to try another ninjutsu, Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu. He used that technique to force out Neji's technique once more. However the Hyuuga knew what the blond wanted and he wasn't going to use it again. He needed to save his stamina for later into the event. Naruto wasn't too tired, thanks to his abnormally large endurance. He thought about blasting him with ninjutsu after ninjutsu to force Neji's back into a corner. The continuous use of Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu ruined the ground of the centre stage. Neji was forced to either run or defend each time Naruto attack. He had never been this defensive before. Neji needed to find a solution to put himself in favour for this matchup again. He thought it would be a piece of cake, clearly that wasn't the case.

The blond charged in for another taijutsu match, with his Kage Bunshin already summoned. he was more than ready to take on Neji. Neji was being surrounded by Naruto and anticipated for him to attack. The Hyuuga parried every single attempted from Naruto. So instead the blonds all jumped in at once. Hakkeshou Kaiten, The Kage Bunshin were knocked back and disappeared. "So now he reveals it." Naruto thought. He studied what he can from what was displayed. "He released an excess amount of chakra which creates a barrier. A very powerful defensive ability." Naruto thought. "With that amount chakra used, I don't think he can use it too many times. Which would explain why he didn't use it the previous times." The blond thought up a tactic he could use against him.

Naruto summoned more shadow clones to attack Neji while he prepared. Naruto threw out smoke bombs to cover the battlefield. "That won't do you any good." Neji thought. He could see through the smoke. Neji defeated the clones even in the smoke. He looked out for the real one. He noticed one more body of chakra. It could possibly by the real one. Unbeknownst to Neji, Naruto hid underground and tricked the Hyuuga clan member with genjutsu. Naruto popped out from the ground and grabbed both of Neji's ankles. The blond dragged Neji into the ground. Naruto crawled out as he had won the match. "You know if you continued to carry that boulder endlessly, you'll eventually get crushed by it. It's better to know how to find peace and let go of the boulder." Naruto said and walked away. Genma, the proctor laughed. The advice the blond gave contained a lot of wisdom. "He's right. You're only as free as you think you are. If you hold on to the past and anger, you'll forever be a trapped 'll endure more pain as time goes on. Learn to let go now will make life easier to cope." Genma said. Naruto sat in the bleachers where the other participants were and waited for the next match. The one everyone wanted to see. The Konoha genin congratulated Naruto, which he made a facial gesture to reply.

The crowd were getting restless as they waited for the most anticipated match, Uchiha Sasuke versus Gaara no Sabaku. The hokage already postponed the next as much as he could. In a swirl of leaves, Kakashi and Sasuke made it to the stadium. The crowd cheered as loud as they could. Sasuke and Gaara were prepared to fight.

It was a trap. The ninjas of Suna invaded Konoha. Gaara was like Naruto a Jinchuuriki. However Gaara was different from Naruto. Gaara's seal was weak and it let the beast possess his body. The blond ran after the redhead to prevent him from doing too much damage. Naruto alone couldn't win against a Bijuu, even if he possessed the Kyuubi. An arm made of sand lunged at the blond and destroyed the trees behind Naruto. Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu, Naruto soaked the sand in water, thus temporarily disable the limb from moving. Gaara formed another arm to smash Naruto. Again the blond dodge in time, he didn't think the trick could work twice. Naruto kept his distance from Gaara. He didn't know what he could do against the redheaded ninja. He hoped he could come up with something in time. Gaara's cohorts arrived to Gaara. naruto gritted his teeth, he had enough trouble as it is. Naruto noticed his comrades arrive as well. "Naruto, we'll take care of Kankuro and the girl." Shino and Sasuke said. Naruto chased after Gaara.

The blond thought of something that can help him. Naruto wasn't too sure if he could do it, Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Gamakichi shown up. Naruto quickly grabbed him and ran as Gaara attacked him. Naruto tried again as he needed the toad that saved him, Kuchiyose no Jutsu. He did it. That same toad was summoned. "I need your help to beat him." Naruto said pointed a fully form Bijuu. "Why should I help you. Just because you sign the contract and summoned. I'm not obligated to help you." toad said arrogantly. Naruto didn't what he could do the persuade the giant toad. "Yo dad." Gamakichi said as he sat on Naruto's shoulder. "Gamakichi, what are you doing here?" The giant toad asked angrily. "That thing over there tried to kill me and Naruto." Gamakichi said. The giant toad was shaking in anger, "Alright Uzumaki name is Gamabunta. Remember it. I will take you as my underling. No one tries to kill my son and get away with it!" Naruto sat on Gamabunta's head as he charged at the Bijuu. Gamabunta unsheathe his weapon, a tanto. With a quick swipe of the blade, Gamabunta dismembered both of the Bijuu's arms. "Underling, I'm going to cover it with oil, you better prepare some sort of fire ninjutsu." Gamabunta ordered.

The blond finished weaving his hand seals as the Bijuu was fully coated in oil, Katon: Karyuu Endan. The flaming dragon wrapped around the giant body of the Bijuu. The toad oil increased the ferociousness of the flames and it incinerated the Bijuu. It let out a loud shriek in pain. "Shit, that's not enough." Said Gamabunta. "Where the hell is Jiraiya when you need the idiot." The burnt sand slowly crumbled off the main body. "What do we do?" Naruto asked. "Now we have to subdue the Jinchuuriki and reseal the chakra leaking out." Gamabunta. "That's Shukaku, the one tailed beast. It's a lot weaker than the Kyuubi, but still a pain in the ass."

"To subdue the jinchuuriki." Naruto thought, it was something he can use the Mangekyou Sharingan for. Naruto leapt off the giant toad and onto Shukaku. Gaara peeled his eyes open. He noticed the someone with demonic red eyes staring at him. His instinct told him to look away, but he couldn't, something was drawing his eyes to meet. Gaara was entrapped in Naruto's genjutsu. Naruto used his genjutsu to separate the Shukaku from Gaara. The body of sand began to fall apart as Shukaku was removed. The blond and the redhead landed on Gamabunta's hand. "Kid, I don't know what you did but good job." He said and lowered them to the ground.

Gaara was tied to the trunk of a tree and Naruto sat across from him. Gaara glared at him, his enemy. "I know what you are." Naruto said but Gaara interjected, "A monster right?"

"No, a human. You're a Jinchuuriki, you're a human with a demon sealed inside you." Gaara was surprised how he knew that. "I'm one as well. I may understand why you're the way you are." Naruto said , much to the redhead's surprise. "The villagers hate you even though you did nothing wrong. Anything you tried to do made thing worse."

"You think that's all? I learned not to trust anyone, because they'll all betray you in the end. My own relative tried to kill me." Gaara said. "I can't say that has very happened to me, but someone tried to make me into a human weapon, but the Hokage stopped it. The most I can do is empathise." The blond said. "You're not the saddest and the one who deserves the most pity. Everyone has their situations. Either you learn and let go, or you turn into an actual monster." Naruto looked behind him to see Shino, Sasuke and Gaara's cohorts. "Gaara, are you okay?" Temari asked but Naruto got in the way. "Don't misunderstand, we're enemies since you invaded Konoha. I can very well kill him right now." Naruto said. "Please don't, he's my little brother." Temari begged on her knees. "Let us go, I apologise."

"Naruto let them go. The invasion is over. Suna troops had surrendered." Shikamaru came out of the bushes with his sensei, Asuma. The blond released Gaara from the tree trunk. The Gaara, Kankuro and Temari left.

The rain poured heavily during the funeral of Sarutobi Hiruzen. Everything was unveiled. Orochimaru tricked Sunagakure to invade Konoha just so Orochimaru can kill his old mentor, Hiruzen. Suna immediately tried to make appeasement with Konoha, as they were at fault. Naruto told in front of memorial, he felt something trickle down his cheek, "Naruto-nii, you're -" Gamakichi said, but the blond interrupted, "it's just the rain." Gamakichi knew what he was feeling and stopped speaking. "Gamakichi, you should go home. Your father will be worried." Naruto said. The orange toad nodded, "Later Naruto-nii."

At home Naruto took off his funeral clothes and sat on his bed, his tears streamed down his cheeks. He hadn't cried like this since Itachi left Konoha. He buried his face into his arms and continued to cry.

Naruto watched as the village was being repaired from the damage. "Yo kid." A familiar voice spoke. Naruto turned around and looked at Jiraiya, "what do you want, ero-gama." Jiraiya was about to argue, but he could see that Naruto was still a little upset. "I have to go on a little journey, I want you to come with me." "Do I have to come?" Naruto asked. "Pretty much, ninja council's orders." Jiraiya. Naruto knew that it was a lie, but he played along. "Fine, where are we going?" "I give you the details along the way.I'll meet you at the gate in one hour." Jiraiya said.

As Naruto walked home to prepare for a journey, he passed by someone familiar. Naruto continued to walk but to somewhere else. "Uchiha Itachi, what do you want with Naruto?" Kakashi demanded as he stood in front of the blond."Again, I want him to come with us. We need him for our plans." Itachi stated. "I can't allow Naruto to be handed over." Kakashi said. "Itachi-san, we don't have much time." His partner said. "Then we will make this quick." Itachi said back.

Itachi revealed his Mangekyou Sharingan to Kakashi. The jounin sensei was caught in his genjutsu. It wasn't a simple one either. It was Tsukuyomi. Naruto was conflicted, he didn't want to reveal his own trump card but he wanted to save Kakashi. Before the blond can make a decision, another ninja entered the battlefield. "I am Leaf's Noble Gentleman, Might Guy. I will stop criminal scum from destroying Konoha." He introduced. "He's an idiot." Itachi's partner said.

Guy rushed in to save his long time rival, Kakashi. With another ninja attacking Itachi, he couldn't hold his grip on Kakashi any longer. Itachi stopped using Tsukuyomi on Kakashi and protected himself from Leaf's Noble Gentlemen that is Might Guy. One trick that Guy picked up on how to fight ninjas who used the Sharingan was to look at their feet instead of their eyes. Guy and his more than exceptional taijutsu over powered Itachi. His partner had to come and defend him. The pressure from Guy's kick knocked off his hat. What stood their was a very large man with blue skin.

"You must be Hoshigaki Kisame from Kirigakure." Guy said. "Oh, you've heard of me. I'm honoured." Kisame said with his sword fully unraveled. Guy performed a high jump kick on Kisame. The attack was fast enough that Kisame couldn't dodge it, so he protected himself and took the full power of the kick. Kisame slid back from his kick. "This guy's dangerous." Kisame thought. "Itachi-san, we need to leave now." Kisame said. The two quickly ran away. "Naruto-kun, we'll take your sensei to the hospital." Guy said. "Try to stay safe." Naruto nodded.

Jiraiya heard about Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame being in Konoha. "It's a good thing I've kept check on them." The white haired man thought. "So basically, we need to find Tsunade of the Sannin and convince her to come back to Konoha." Naruto clarified. "Pretty much, it's not as easy as you think." Jiraiya said back. "Since Itachi is after you now. I'm going to teach you a new ninjutsu so you can protect yourself." Jiraiya said. "This ninjutsu won't be as easy to learn. It's all chakra shape manipulation." The white haired man explained. "Let me demonstrate." Jiraiya gathered chakra into his palm. The chakra morphed into a ball shape, Rasengan. He slammed the ball of chakra into a nearby tree. Naruto was impressed with the result. The tree snapped in half. "This is a ninjutsu made by my student, The one and only Namikaze Minato, the fourth hokage." Jiraiya proclaimed proudly. "There are three parts in learning this technique." He handed him some balloons., "You need to know the flow of the chakra." Jiraiya said as he filled a balloon with water. The white haired man held the water balloon in his hand. With some concentration, Jiraiya popped the water balloon."You need to spin the water in multiple directions for the balloon to pop." Naruto held a water balloon in his hand. The object rumbled but didn not burst. "This is going to be harder than what I expected." The blond thought. Jiraiya smirked as Naruto failed in bursting the water balloon. They continued to walk to their destination as Naruto attempted to figure the trick behind the Rasengan.

Naruto was trying to pop the water balloon in the inn. Someone knocked on the door. He was expecting any guests. The blond was suspicious. He pretended that no one was in the room but it didn't fool the person knocking on the door. The perpetrator kicked the door open. It was Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. "No use trying to run from us, kid." Kisame said. "Shit!" Naruto jumped out the window and ran as far as possible. "Where the hell is Jiraiya?" Naruto thought. The best option he thought would be to cause as much attention as possible signalling Jiraiya. The blond avoiding as much bystanders as possible as he ran.

"I'm surprise you got this far kid, I'm impressed." The blue skinned man said. They stood at the rooftop of a building. There was no way that the blond can escape anymore. He had to drag out a fight as Jiraiya was still missing. "Still resisting huh, You got guts kid. I won't kill you as my organization needs you alive. I can't guarantee you won't lose a limb or two." Kisame laughed. Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu, Naruto made the first move by attacking Kisame. He blocked the hit with his sword. Itachi pulled out his own sword. Naruto was forced to use his Mangekyou Sharingan.

He dodged Itachi's slash and Kisame's kick. The blond threw out a shuriken and immediately formed a hand seal, Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. A thousand shuriken appeared before Itachi and Kisame. "This kid is quite good, Itachi-san." Kisame remarked as he dodged the projectiles. Katon: Karyuu Endan, a flaming dragon flew into the sky chasing them. Itachi couldn't dodge the dragon in time so he had to defend, Amaterasu.

Naruto was familiar with the black flames. The black flames slowly ate up the fire dragon. Naruto was already in a bad position, but now Itachi used such an advance technique, Naruto was not having a good time. It was harder and harder to drag the fight as Itachi and Kisame approached him, Naruto had to do something drastic. He had to use a Mangekyou technique. He stared at Kisame with his left eye, Amaterasu. Kisame's cloak bursted into flames. THe blue skinned man quickly took off his cloak. Itachi had told him about the property of Amaterasu. The heat of the flames was compared to the sun. It will continue to burn for seven days and seven nights and cannot be extinguished through norma means. It could only be removed by a user of the Mangekyou Sharingan or by sealing away. Itachi removed the black flame with his Mangekyou Sharingan. "Impressive Naruto-kun. I can assume you can use both Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi." Itachi smiled. "Your rate of growth is astonishing."

Kisame and Itachi was snuck upon by Jiraiya. They rapidly moved away from the white haired man. Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari, everybody on the roof of the building was trapped by some sort of fleshy pink wall. "The odds are not in our favour, Itachi-san." Kisame commented. Itachi agreed with his partner in crime. "We should retreat. I don't think even we can win against Jiraiya." Itachi said. Using Amaterasu, Itachi burnt a hole on the wall and ran. Jiraiya didn't stop them. He checked up on the blond and saw his eyes. "Why do you have those eyes." Naruto knew lying was useless, "It's a long story."

"So Itachi gave them to you because he thinks that with your talent, you would benefit from them." Jiraiya said. "That's probably true. Konoha may look calm and peaceful, but its politics is a mess. So you can use it?" Naruto nodded. "That's good." Jiraiya said, "Naruto, there is a group of people that are after the Bijuu. You need to be careful."

Naruto achieved the first part of the Rasengan and on his way to the second part. Jiraiya handed him a rubber ball. "The second part requires you to have power." Jiraiya demonstrated what he said. The rubber ball tore apart in his hand. "Now you do it." Naruto gave the ball a squeeze. "This won't be easy." He thought. The rubber was incredibly dense. Jiraiya left Naruto as he did what the ninja council asked of him.

"Ero-gama, I finish the second part." Naruto said as he shown him the blown apart. Jiraiya's jaw dropped to the floor and thought, "Naruto took one week to get the first part, and now one week as well for the second part, at this rate he'll learn the Rasengan in three weeks!" The white haired man dropped and rolled on the floor, "Why do you have to be so damn talented!?" Jiraiya cried out loud. "Alright," Jiraiya sat up and blew up a balloon with air, "This is the last step and the hardest step. You now took what you learned from the first and second and apply it together." Naruto observed the chakra flowing inside the balloon. "The last step is stabilizing the chakra and thus completing the technique." Jiraiya said and handed him the bag of balloons. The blond filled a balloon with air and tried out the final part. Not even a second, the balloon popped. "The amount of chakra control required is insane." He noted. That encouraged him to continue practicing.

"Naruto, let's go. Tsunade is in town, we need to quickly find her." Jiraiya said. "What makes you think she'll be here?" Naruto asked. "Well, Tsunade has this thing where she likes to gamble." Jiraiya said, "but, she's terrible at it." Naruto raised an eyebrow, "why would she gamble if she sucks at it?" "I really don't know, but she has a nickname because of it, The Legendary Sucker. Never won a bet in her life." The white haired man added. "Why did she leave konoha in the first place?" The blond asked. "Long story, basically she lost a lot of loved ones particularly her younger brother, Nawaki and her lover, Dan. She felt she needed to leave Konoha as there were no reason to stay anymore. Her will of fire died when those two died. " Jiraiya explained. "The will of fire, something the hokage stands for. To love, to cherish and to protect the village. To strength that gives the ninjas of Konoha to fight against all odds." Naruto thought, "Those two had the desire to become the hokage at some point in their lives." Naruto put that thought into the back of his mind and concentrated at the task at hand.

Naruto and Jiraiya looked all over town after they were informed that Tsunade might be nearby. They went to every casino in the tourist town of Tanzaku. They wandered into a bar, Jiraiya tapped on Naruto shoulders and pointed to a direction, "There they are." He said. "Its been a while, Hime." Jiraiya said. The blonde looked back and had a face of disgust, "Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" He smirked, "I have some business with you. I've heard Orochimaru is also around here. I also heard he got severely injured when he fought the old man. I want to make sure you don't join with him." Jiraiya had a serious face when he spoke the last sentence.

Naruto knew what he implied. If Tsunade decided to help Orochimaru, she would become an enemy of Konoha and Jiraiya might have to kill her. Tsunade said nothing and kept drinking her alcohol. "I'm here to ask you to go back to Konoha and to succeed to the old man." Jiraiya stated. Tsunade laughed loud enough for the entire bar to turn and look to their direction. "Jiraiya, that's not happening." She said. "Being a hokage is a fool's errand." Naruto was shocked, but didn't show it visibly, when she said that. "Who is this kid?" She asked. "He's Uzumaki Naruto, I asked him to come along." Jiraiya answered.

Tsunade was familiar with that name, "He's their kid." She thought. "Hime, I want you to reconsider. Remember their dream." Jiraiya said. Tsunade smashed the table, "Don't bring them up." She threatened. The blond decided to chip into the conversation. "Ero-gama told me about Nawaki and Dan. Obviously they were extremely important to you, yet you insult their dream. Calling it a fool's errand. Insulting their dream is insulting your memories of them. They would be hurt if they knew what you thought of them. Everyone lost someone in war but you felt you were owed the greatest. You stink up in entire bar, and I'm not just talking about the alcohol." Naruto left them. Tsunade wanted to give Naruto a piece of her mind, but the blond already disappeared. Jiraiya got up from his seat. "I can't force you, so ultimately the decision is up to you. Remember what Naruto and I said." He disappeared as well.

Naruto gotten back to his training after being riled up by the blonde. He popped the balloon with his hand in anger. "I can't do this when I'm angry." Naruto said as he laid on the floor. Naruto thought about his memories with the old man and Itachi. He remembered the time they spent with him. Those two were extremely important to him. One died in battle and the other wanted to kill him. Someone was at the door, so he opened it. It was Shizune, the person that traveled with Tsunade. "I apologise about how Tsunade acted." She started. "She should not act that way." Naruto waved it off, "Don't worry about it." Shizune smiled a bit, "I hope you understand how Tsunade-sama felt." "That doesn't mean I should pity her. I'm a Jinchuuriki. Some of the villagers hate my very existence because they see me as a child of a demon. Others simply avoid me because I'm too troublesome. I don't know what it feels like to be in her position. All I know is that I should just be an outcast. There are more fingers in one hand than there are people who sees me as a pitiful orphan." Naruto answered. Shizune didn't know about Naruto's own circumstances. "I shouldn't said that to you. i don't need to add more to your own worries. Besides, I'm already used to it." Naruto added. "Anyways, it's getting late, you should check up on her." Naruto said. Shizune bowed and left the room.

Naruto felt like he was closer to achieving the final step. He felt that he had more and more control of the ball of chakra. "I'm getting close." Naruto thought. He could taste the fruit of his labour. His hand was slightly damaged from chairs burns. The power of the Kyuubi began to treat it. Jiraiya stumbled into the room. It looked like he was poisoned or something. "Kid. Help me get to Tsunade, quick." The blond helped him, "What's wrong?" "Tsunade spiked my drink last night. I really don't know what she's thinking." Jiraiya said. "Hurry, we need to find her."

Jiraiya and Naruto heard whispers about the old castle just outside of town. Apparently someone severely damaged duo swiftly headed to that direction. "This is bad." Jiraiya thought.

Katon: Karyuu Endan. Naruto stopped the person from killing Tsunade. He looked at him closer. It was the older genin from Konoha. His name was Kabuto. "So he's with Orochimaru." The blond thought. Naruto thought back as to why Tsunade didn't move away. He looked back at Kabuto and noticed the blood on his hand. "Kind of ironic that a medic would be afraid of blood." He commented. "You are Uzumaki Naruto, Sasuke-kun's teammate." Kabuto said. "That's correct." He confirmed. Kabuto smirked and made his move. Kabuto fought Naruto with taijutsu. The blond dodged and block all of his strikes. They again danced off as Naruto himself wanted an advantage over the silver haired man. The blond pulled out a kunai and lunged for a stab. Kabuto got out with a scratch on his cheek and smirked, "you're good, Naruto-kun." The blond threw the kunai at Kabuto and weaved through some hand seals, Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Before Kabuto could reacted, Naruto again followed through with another ninjutsu. Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu. The projectiles caught on fire as they flew at the silver haired man. Kabuto looking annoyed, dodged the flaming knives and went after Tsunade again. Naruto flew in the air and performed another ninjutsu, Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu. He fired the torrent of water in front of Kabuto to stop him in his tracks. Naruto between the dazed blonde and Kabuto. The blond engaged into taijutsu again to fight off the silver haired man. He was not having an easy time. The fact that he was a genin was a lie. He was easily on par with a jounin. Naruto was too caught with his thought and wasn't focusing on the task at hand. "Shit!" Naruto got hit by Kabuto. Kabuto was using a chakra scalpel as a weapon and he severed a muscle in his left arm.

Tsunade finally snapped out of her daze. She looked over to see her apprentice Shizune unconscious and Naruto struggling against Kabuto with only one arm. She swiftly moved to save the blond. kabuto didn't reacted fast and got hit by Tsunade's punch. The silver haired man skidded along the ground as Tsunade tried to heal Naruto. The blond was severely hurt but his organs were not damaged. Kabuto got up from the ground and his wounds were already healing. Tsunade noticed it. She left Naruto by himself as she went towards Kabuto to finish him off.

Naruto slowly got up now that the Kyuubi finished healing him. He joined in the fight between the Sannin. The Sannin summoned their respective animal, except Jiraiya as he was still poisoned. Kuchiyose no Jutsu, the boss toad stood in front of the other two summons. "It's been a while since we last met." Gamabunta commented. Naruto explained the situation to the boss toad. "Oh I see, Underling." He said, "I could always use a snakeskin wallet." Manda, the leader of the snakes bared his fangs at the toad. "Try it and I'll eat you."

Kabuto hatched a plan, he would hold Tsunade's apprentice, Shizune, as hostage and force her to heal Orochimaru. He knew that Shizune was Dan's niece. He also sees that the blond was guarding her. That didn't matter much since he could overpower him. Naruto saw that Kabuto got up and acting suspicious. He immediately stood on guard. Kabuto charged hoping to finish Naruto in one blow. However he felt his body freeze as their eyes met. Naruto gathered chakra in his hand. He knew that only this technique can finish Kabuto off in one hit. Naruto ran at with the Rasengan in his hand. He couldn't hold it probably. He needed into end this before the genjutsu wore off on the silver haired man. Rasengan, Naruto struck the ball of chakra into Kabuto's gut. The offensive technique sent him flying. Naruto rapidly went to help Jiraiya. He climbed on top of Gamabunta's head and launched himself up even higher. He reached the same eye level as Manda. He revealed his Mangekyou Sharingan to him. Tsukuyomi, the serpent froze like a statue from the all powerful Sharingan genjutsu. Amaterasu, the black flames slowly wrapped around the serpent. The snake lit up in an enormous blaze. The serpent screamed in pain, "I will remember this!" He screamed and disappeared. Naruto looked around and noticed that Orochimaru snuck off with his cohort. Naruto smiled as they won the fight. He felt his consciousness slip away. The blond dropped to his knees and fell on the ground.


End file.
